The California Interscholastic Federation will add competitive cheer to its stable of sports beginning in the 2017-18 school year.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Wednesday signed into law Assembly Bill 949, which had been sponsored by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego.
Gonzalez, a former Stanford cheerleader, said the law will mean better safety and coach training standards and potentially more resources for competitive cheer athletes. The law would not affect cheerleaders who root on football or basketball teams, better known as sideline cheer.
Targeting California's recent record-low voter turnout, Gov. Jerry Brown on Saturday signed a measure that would eventually allow Californians to be automatically registered to vote when they go the DMV to obtain or renew a driver's license.
The measure, which would also allow Californians to opt out of registering, was introduced in response to the dismal 42% turnout in the November 2014 statewide election.
Seeking to promote drought-conscious alternatives to thirsty lawns, Gov. Jerry Brown on Friday approved a measure that prohibits homeowners associations from banning artificial turf.
The law, which goes into effect immediately, applies to approximately 4.8 million homes. The state estimates that landscape irrigation represents 43% of urban water use.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, the author of the bill, AB 349, said synthetic grass can help homeowners curb their water use.
Gov. Jerry Brown on Monday signed 14 bills, including a measure that requires that large grocery stores keep their workers for at least 90 days after a change in store ownership.
Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez (D-San Diego) said her measure protects grocery workers from losing their jobs in the event of a corporate merger.
"Wall Street mergers and acquisitions that make big money for corporations and private equity firms should not jeopardize jobs of the grocery workers who live and work in our communities," said Gonzalez in a statement.
After President Barack Obama called for paid sick leave in his most recent State of the Union address, most progressives praised his leadership. Lorena Gonzalez thanked him for finally following her lead.
When Gonzalez, a California state assemblywoman, wrote a law making California the first state to guarantee paid sick days for all private-sector workers, it was a bold and controversial move. It passed last September. Fast-forward six months and paid sick leave has gone from "pet Democratic cause" to legislative reality in several states. Gonzalez, who's been in office just two years, has campaigned for paid sick-leave measures in other states and consulted with lawmakers around the country on how to replicate her work. Obama's call for action remains unfulfilled; Gonzalez's law took effect last Wednesday.
SAN DIEGO — A new law will help the state punish small-time poachers.
On Wednesday Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill that allows the Department of Fish and Wildlife and other law enforcement agencies to cite people that break marine protected area regulations with an infraction.
Assembly Bill 298, carried by Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, becomes law on January 2016.
More than 6 million workers are expected to benefit from a new law taking effect Wednesday that requires California employers to provide them at least three paid sick days a year.
The measure applies to most employees who work at least 30 days a year. The workers will earn a minimum of one hour of paid sick leave for every 30 hours worked.
It's among several new laws that take effect at the start of the state's new fiscal year.
LorenaAD80